D&D General What is your favorite D&D cosmology?

Vaalingrade said:

Again, how is the World Axis being built for adventure any more or less mythical or legendary than the Great Wheel built for alignment?

If I build a house where none of the bathrooms have doors and you need an axe to use the WC, that doesn't make it Mt Olympus.

Click to expand...

Staffan said:

The difference is that the Great Wheel is a mostly-closed cosmology. There are exactly 17 outer planes and they are defined by alignments. Since alignments are a bad idea and should not be part of anything at all, I don't like that. The World Axis, on the other hand, says "Here's the Astral Sea, and within that you'll find all sorts of planes. Some, but not all, are homes to gods. Some have weird cosmic phenomena. Some look much like the world you're from, others look entirely different." That leaves a lot more room for fun stuff.

I mean, just look at all the weird dimensions that have popped up in various Marvel comics over the years. That's what I want in a cosmology, not mindless box-checking.

Click to expand...

Snarf Zagyg said:

Githyankis are here again, oh lord
Severed my silver cord, was a year or more
I hope I can hold on a little longer
Ether cyclone been blowin' for days
The sword was made of silver, the world made of gray
I've been runnin' for days without rest

The great wheel in the PHB keeps on turnin'
I don't know what plane I'll be in tomorrow
Great wheel in the back of the PHB keeps on turnin'

I've been trying to make it home
Hope I make it before too long
I can't take this very much longer
Thought Leo's tiny hut would keep me from the rain
Now trapped in the ethereal, never gonna make it home again
No light, no dark, no sun is risin'
Here I'm stuck, here I'll stay

Oh the great wheel in the PHB keeps on turnin'
I don't know what plane I'll be in tomorrow
Ooo the great wheel in the back of the PHB keeps on turnin' ....

Click to expand...

Micah Sweet said:

Because themes of good and evil, and where you go when you die, are actually mythological questions pondered by everyone, not just a tiny handful of adventurers. Thus, the cosmology includes everyone.

Click to expand...

Micah Sweet said:

While simultaneously changing the world from a place that could be extrapolated from myth and legend (categorized by mortal minds) into an amusement park where the only people in the universe who matter are the 3-6 characters being played by folks at your table.

Click to expand...

Voadam said:

Its funny the 1e Great Wheel always felt very cosmic Marvel Comics to me.

While the World Axis feels very D&D Norse Nine Worlds

Click to expand...

Staffan said:

Cosmologies are better when they don't include afterlives.

Click to expand...

Aldarc said:

...for post hoc artificial and gamist reasons.


This is a fundamental difference to me. The World Axis feels mythic and organic. It feels like it actually taps into the historical human mythos and its stories. The Great Wheel feels more like an artificial construct that exists for the sake of its gamist conceits: i.e., alignment. IMHO, there's no real mystery and wonder with the Great Wheel.

Click to expand...

Micah Sweet said:

Whereas I feel the exact opposite, across the board. So I guess there's value in both cosmoligies.

Click to expand...

Aldarc said:

You honestly feel that the Great Wheel taps into the historical human mythos and its stories more than the World Axis?

Click to expand...